Balzac, Honoré de << BAL zak or BAWL zak, `ahn` uh RAY duh >> (1799-1850), a French writer, was one of the most important novelists of the 1800’s. He was the first great writer to reveal the complex bonds that tie people to society, and to explore the deep influence of environment on human beings.
Balzac’s fame rests on The Human Comedy (La Comédie Humaine), a series of nearly 100 works, including novels, novellas, and short stories. In writing The Human Comedy, Balzac tried to discover and expose the factors governing French life between the revolutions of 1789 and 1830. His plots often are only devices to illustrate the vast social, political, and economic movements dominating France during that time.
Balzac introduced into his writings as many occupations, professions, and levels of society as he could. The Human Comedy has more than 2,000 characters, many of whom appear in two or more books. This gives the series a strong sense of continuity and unity. Balzac arranged The Human Comedy into “scenes” of private life (Old Goriot, 1834); provincial life (Eugénie Grandet, 1833); Parisian life (Cousin Bette, 1846); military life (The Chouans, 1829); political life (A Gloomy Affair, 1841); and philosophical studies (In Quest of the Absolute, 1834). His style is often rough, his plots too involved, and his descriptions tedious. The Human Comedy endures because of its powerful drama, epic realism, and portraits of people in action.
Balzac also wrote Droll Stories (1832-1837), a collection of racy tales influenced by the work of François Rabelais. He also wrote many plays and contributed historical and political articles to many magazines.
Balzac was born on May 20, 1799, in Tours. His childhood was unhappy, both at home and in school. He studied law in Paris from 1816 to 1819, and then decided to become a writer. Balzac filled the remaining 30 years of his life with writing, wild money-raising schemes, and affairs with women. His urge for wealth and power led him into a series of disastrous financial speculations that left him deeply in debt. To pay his bills, he wrote furiously. He often wrote more than 16 hours a day for weeks at a time, keeping himself awake with coffee. The novel The Chouans brought him his first fame. Despite his many friendships with women, Balzac did not marry until a few months before his death. He died on Aug. 18, 1850.
